CAROLINA HURRICANES (16-23-6-4, 42 pts.)
vs.
FLORIDA PANTHERS (14-17-9-8, 45 pts.)
Friday, Jan. 24, 2003, 7 p.m. at RBC Center
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2003, 7:30 p.m. at Office Depot Center

GAME NIGHT

The defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes return to RBC Center on Friday to face Florida at 7 p.m in the first game of a back-to-back, home-and-home set. Saturday the teams travel to Office Depot Center to wrap up the series. The Friday-Saturday set will mark the third and fourth games in the teams’ five-game season series. Carolina and Florida last met Dec. 6 at RBC Center, a 2-0 Panthers victory.
Hurricanes winger Jeff O’Neill has seven goals in the last 11 games and was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Jan. 16. His four-game goals streak (Jan. 3-8: 5g, 0a) was the longest this season by any Carolina player. O’Neill leads the team with 19 goals and is tied with injured centerman Rod Brind'Amour for the team lead with 37 points. He ranked tied for sixth among all NHL players with six game-winning goals through games of Jan. 22. Second-year forward Erik Cole has 18 points (11g, 7a) in the last 30 games and was named to the Topps/NHL YoungStars game on Jan. 18.

PRACTICE TIMES

Jan. 24	Friday	RBC Center	10:30 a.m.
Jan. 25	Saturday	Office Depot Center	11:30 a.m.
Jan. 26	Sunday	RecZone	11:45 a.m.
Jan. 27	Monday	RBC Center	3 p.m.
Jan. 28	Tuesday	RecZone	11 a.m.
Jan. 29	Wednesday	RBC Center	10:30 a.m.

ON THE AIR
Television: Friday – NC & SC, Saturday – NC only
Radio: WKIX 102.3 FM (Goldsboro); WKXU 101.1 FM (Raleigh); WDTF 570-AM (Raleigh); WMFD 630-AM (Wilmington); WDLZ 98.3-FM (Murfreesboro); WSJS 600-AM (Winston-Salem); WRUP 97.9-FM (New Bern/Morehead City); WSTK 910-AM (Jacksonville); WNMX 106.1 (Charlotte); WCNC 1240-AM (Elizabeth City); WZBO 1260-AM (Edenton)
Internet: www.nhl.com

CAROLINA NOTES
Friday marks the first game of the Hurricanes’ 12th back-to-back set this season. The Hurricanes completed their 11th back-to-back set this season at New Jersey on Saturday falling 5-2 to the Devils. Carolina is 9-12-1-0 in back-to-back games with a 5-5-1-0 record in the front half and a 4-7-0-0 record in the back half of back-to-back sets. The Hurricanes were 15-16-3 in back-to-back games in 2000-01, with a record of 8-6-3 in the first games and 7-10-0 in the second games. During the 1999-2000 season, Carolina was 14-18-3 in back-to-back games, with an 8-8-2 record in the first games and 6-10-1 record in the second games. During the 1998-99 season, the team played 17 sets of back-to-back games, posting a 7-7-3 record in the first games and a 6-6-5 mark in the second games.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 8-10-5-3
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 8-13-1-1
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 43-of-272 (15.8%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 217-of-260 (83.5%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Center Rod Brind’Amour was placed on injured reserve Jan. 21 and has missed one game after hand surgery on Jan. 22.

CAROLINA / FLORIDA NOTES
The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers the first game of a back-to-back, home-and-home set and the third of five meetings this season. The Panthers took the teams’ last meeting on Dec. 6 at RBC Center as goaltender Roberto Luongo pitched a 40-save shutout. On Dec. 4, the teams’ first meeting this season, Luongo made 31 saves to help Florida to a 4-2 victory at Office Depot Center. Carolina won last season’s series with a 4-0-1-0 record. The Hurricanes were 2-0-1-0 at home in 2001-02 earning wins on Dec. 12 (4-1) and March 21 (3-2) and a tie on Jan. 25 (1-1). Carolina was 2-0-0-0 at Florida defeating the Panthers on Dec. 8 (3-2) and April 12 (3-1). Ron Francis, Bates Battaglia, Rod Brind’Amour, and Martin Gelinas led Carolina with four points each. The Hurricanes are 17-16-9-0 all-time against the Panthers, with a 10-9-2-0 record at home and a 7-7-7-0 record at Florida.

PANTHERS NOTES
Center Olli Jokinen currently leads the Panthers in goals (24), points (41), power-play goals (7), game-winning goals (5) and short-handed goals (2) and is tied for fourth on the team in assists (17). Jokinen has set new career-highs in goals and points already this season… The Panthers defensemen have been on the offensive lately, scoring six of the last 11 Florida goals over the past five games.

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
92 O'Neill	49	19	18	37
17 Brind'Amour	48	14	23	37
10 Francis	49	17	17	34
26 Cole	48	13	11	24
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	22	3.03	6-14-2	.888
80 Weekes	31	2.38	10-13-4	.920
PANTHERS
	GP	G	A	TP
12 Jokinen	47	24	17	41
22 Huselius	45	14	14	28
25 Kozlov	40	10	18	28
44 Ozolinsh	48	7	19	26
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
30 Hurme	18	2.76	4-6-5	.914
1 Luongo	36	2.84	10-19-4	.913